


5+1 How To Fluster Cryptor (And Also Kai)

by HerHighnessThePrincess



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: M/M, This is, in a SHARP departure from the norm, nothing but fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27325585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerHighnessThePrincess/pseuds/HerHighnessThePrincess
Summary: Kai has a crush, and Cryptor doesn't know how to interact with people.
Relationships: Cryptor/Kai (Ninjago)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	5+1 How To Fluster Cryptor (And Also Kai)

**Author's Note:**

> Dear readers, I know this isn’t my usual stuff, or any of the stories I have been working on, or the 100 follower thing, but I got inspiration and I had to write it. Thanks to spinchip for giving me the idea, I hope you like.
> 
> TW: None.

  1. A brush of their hands



The first time it happened, Cryptor wasn't even entirely sure what it was. It had been a busy morning in the kitchen, with Zane cooking everything because none of the others could (like usual) and Cryptor had been standing off to the side, content to ignore everything and be ignored in turn (again, like usual). 

The one thing that had been different was when he heard a small _thunk_ on the wall beside him, and turned to see a particularly annoying Fire Ninja next to him.

"You gonna eat anything?" Kai asked, tone surprisingly light considering that he was talking to someone who had attempted to kill him. But Cryptor wasn't paying attention to his voice.

What he was paying attention to was Kai's right hand, which was down at his side, and casually brushing against Cryptor's.It was exceptionally warm and the skin was surprisingly soft, he noted. He remained fixated on it until he heard Kai speak again.

"Cryp?" the other boy asked, and Cryptor turned his gaze to his confused face. "You okay?"

Cryptor blinked slowly, before answering. "I am fine. Now please leave me alone."

To Cryptor's surprise, Kai didn't appear upset with him in the slightest, just rolling his eyes and pushing off the wall with ease. "Couldn't have asked nicer, could you?"

And then he was gone, leaving Cryptor wondering why his hand felt warm even in Kai's absence.

  1. A hand on his side



The second time, Cryptor had actively been trying to avoid Kai. They had just returned from a mission, and the boy was once again fretting over all his teammates, hovering over them like a concerned mother. What Cryptor hadn't expected was for Kai to turn his attention onto him.

"No no, hold up," was all Cryptor managed to hear before hands grabbed his shoulders firmly and forced him to sit down on the nearest stool, Kai standing over him with an expression that Cryptor would almost think was _concerned_ , if he was foolish enough to believe that Kai actually cared for him. He had probably been sent over by Zane, there was no other logical reason for him to be there.

"I am alright," he said flatly, already knowing what Kai wanted from him. "I was not hurt."

You sure?" Kai asked, gold eyes fixed on Cryptor's own with a surprising intensity. They had small amounts of brown in them, he realized.

"Yes," he said, crossing his arms. "I was only grazed during the battle."

That was the wrong thing to say. Kai's eyes narrowed instantly. "Where?"

Cryptor fought the urge to narrow his eyes, refusing to behave in an undignified way in front of Kai. "You don't need to worry about my damage. I can fix it myself."

"Yeah, I'll be the judge of that. Where were you hurt?"

Seeing that the idiot wasn't going to leave him alone, Cryptor pointed to his side, where an enemy had indeed managed to land a blow. Kai leaned down to stare at it, and then, for some reasons, he pressed his hand against it.

Kai's hand was cooler than normal, because of how much fire he had used during the battle, but it almost felt like it burned against Cryptor's metal skin. At the same time, he felt the bizarre urge to lean into the touch. While he wondered exactly why he was feeling these urges, Kai continued his inspection, humming softly to himself. When he pulled his hand away, Cryptor felt a strange urge to grab it and keep it there.

"Well, it looks like nothing more than surface level damage," Kai said, sounding somewhat relieved about that. "But if you get hit during battle, you have to tell someone so they can check it out. Okay?"

Cryptor couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes this time. "Of course. Now will you leave me alone?"

Kai did, and Cryptor was once again left with the strangest feeling of warmth on his side where his hand had been.

He almost wished Kai hadn’t gone.

  1. A weight on his side



The third time it happened, it didn’t really come as a surprise.

How it did happen was perplexing to Cryptor though. It had started like any Friday, with Zane coming to his room and politely asking whether he wanted to join the rest of the ninja for their weekly movie night. Cryptor had been ready to refuse, but something had been different this time.

Kai had been with Zane. Just imagining the boy’s disappointed face had been enough to get him to agree, for some reason. And Kai’s beaming face when he agreed made it worth the annoyance he would inevitably experience from interacting with everyone else.

He had figured he could just tone out the movie the whole time, and focus on his own thoughts. But that plan went out the window the instant Kai sat down next to him. The next thing he knew Kai had all but nuzzled into his side, leaning against Cryptor so hard that the robot was forced to steady himself with his hands.

For the next two hours, all Cryptor could focus on was Kai. The boy was so close he could feel Kai’s breath on his cheek, the rise and fall of his chest, and the soft vibration that came whenever he laughed.

Their hands were brushing again, Cryptor noted.

Eventually, the movie ended, and Cryptor expected Kai to leave. But he didn’t. Kai just pressed further into him, murmured something among the lines of, “you’re comfy,” and then didn’t move.

It took a couple of minutes for Cryptor to realize Kai was asleep. Once he did, he didn’t dare move, and just stared down at the sleeping boy. 

He could have moved Kai. He could have woken him up and asked him to leave. He could have left Kai on the couch and gone to his room.

Instead, he only adjusted Kai so he was a bit more comfortable, closed his eyes, and leaned back against the couch.

“Goodnight, Kai.”

  1. Holding his hand



By the time Cryptor was comfortable with spending time with Kai alone, he had learned many things about him. Kai was not just excessively physically affectionate with him: he appeared to be that way with everyone. It wasn’t uncommon to see Kai hugging Nya, or ruffling Lloyd’s hair, or slinging an arm over any of his fellow ninja’s shoulders. He did it often, blatantly, and without embarrassment.

Cryptor wasn’t foolish enough to think that he was anything special in Kai’s world. But, for whatever reason, the way Kai touched him seemed different from the way he interacted with everyone else.

For one, Kai didn’t seem to hold anyone else’s hand. 

The first time Kai did it, Cryptor was so surprised he malfunctioned. The second time, he only dropped what he was holding, which happened to be a bowl full of cereal. 

Over time, he had gotten used to it. Enough so that he didn’t make a fool of himself every time Kai did it. 

And now, he was even comfortable enough to take Kai’s hand himself.

He managed to work up the courage to do so one Thursday night, when he and Kai had been relaxing while watching a tv show together. Kai, as normal, had been pressed up against his side, gleefully jabbering on about the show in a tone which managed to make Cryptor happy by proximity. It was relatively easy to slip a hand in between them and take Kai’s own. What was harder was watching for Kai’s reaction.

There was only the slightest stutter in Kai’s voice before he continued on, but Cryptor couldn’t help but notice Kai smiling a bit broader, and how Kai pressed slightly closer to him.

Cryptor couldn’t help but smile himself at the contact.

  1. Hugging (and something else too)



In the end, it turned out his relationship with Kai was a bit different than the relationships Kai had with everyone else. It just took a fairly blatant display of affection to prove it.

It was a shame that it took Cryptor almost dying for that to happen.

He woke slowly, his vision and hearing clipping in and out. Cryptor could already tell his body was severely damaged through the insistent pinging of his neural net, as well as the more blatant feeling of pain. He groaned weakly, voice clipping harshly.

  
Through his hearing, he could already hear yelling. His heart sank when he recognized the voice. 

“Cry- where- tor, I can’t-are you?”

The voice was desperate and worried, and something Cryptor’s chest twisted at it. He tried to raise his voice to yell that he was alright (or at least alive), but his voice box decided to give out at that exact time. He raised his head, trying to see so he could at least locate himself.

Smoke rising into the sky. Rubble all around him. A brief flash of red heading towards him-

Cryptor barely had time to inhale before Kai slammed into him, knocking him into the ground again. His vision turned to static again, and his senses went fuzzy, and when it came back the first thing he registered was a weight on top of him, one which moved and shook. 

The second thing he registered were the arms around him and the voice in his ear. 

“Oh my god, _Cryp_ ,” Kai sobbed into his neck. “I-I thought you might have been-”

Cryptor blinked, before he hugged Kai back, almost on reflex. He pressed his face into Kai’s hair, breathing in the familiar scent of smoke and ash to steady himself.

“I-” he cleared his throat, trying to get his circuits to work properly. “I am alright, Kai.”

Kai let out a hoarse wheeze, leaning back to take Cryptor’s face in his hands. “Yeah, I’m not believing that for a second.”

“But the damage was not lethal,” Cryptor said. “You should not be concerned-”

“Are you _seriously_ saying that I shouldn’t be concerned that you were almost blown up?” Kai yelled, voice sharp enough to make Cryptor wince. “I-you could have died! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Of course it means something to me,” Cryptor said. “I am just not sure why it means so much to you.”

Kai blinked at him. “Do-do you seriously not understand _why_ you matter to me?”

Cryptor nodded.

For a couple of seconds they just stared at each other, Kai’s eyes teary and Cryptor’s undoubtedly blinking on and off in synch with his vision. Because of this, he didn’t notice when Kai leaned down closer.

“Cryp, I, I…” Kai said, brushing his hair out of face. For some reason, there was a slight flush on his cheeks. “I…”

“Yes?” Cryptor asked.

Kai flushed even darker and pressed his lips together, staring down at Cryptor for a couple of seconds. Then he mumbled a soft “Fuck it,” before he leaned down.

It took a moment for Cryptor to realize Kai was kissing him, and another moment for him to kiss back. The kiss was not good by any stretch of the imagination: Kai was crying, Cryptor was in a considerable amount of pain, and both of them were clearly lacking in any kind of experience.

He loved it.

By the time they separated, Kai had a grin on his face wider than Cryptor had ever seen, and he was sure his face looked at least somewhat similar. It didn’t take much time for them to lean back in for another kiss.

+1. “I Love You”

“You look very handsome tonight, Kai.”

“T-thanks, Cryp.”

Cryptor turned to face his boyfriend, examining him. Kai’s face was turned away from him, buried in a book Cryptor _knew_ he hadn’t touched before now. But on the edge of his cheek that Cryptor could just barely see, he saw the slightest tinge of red, and he smirked.

“Did you hear me?” he asked pleasantly, getting closer to the side of the bed that Kai was sitting on. Kai blinked, glancing up from his book.

“What?”

“I said you looked handsome tonight,” Cryptor said, delighting in the way Kai’s cheeks darkened instantly. “You barely reacted, so I wondered if you had heard.”

Kai glanced away from him, cheeks flushing even more. “N-no, I did hear you.”

Cryptor sat down beside him, one hand coming up to push Kai’s hair out of his face. “I’m not lying, you know.”

Kai let out a soft, aggravated noise, turning to glare at him with no actual anger in his eyes. “The same could be said about you.”

“I’m aware.”

“You’re just as handsome as me, if not more so.”

“Now that I’m going to have to disagree with.”

“I’m serious. I _love_ how pretty your face is.”

“I love how nice your hair is.”

“I love your eyes.”

“I love you.”

Cryptor half expected another retort, but instead Kai’s eyes widened, and his cheeks went blood-red instantly. A split second later, Kai had buried his face in his hands, and Cryptor couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“ _Why_ do you have to be so sappy?”

“Because I love you.”

“Don’t say that!”

“Why not? It’s true.”

“Because it’s _embarrassing_ , Cryp!”

“I disagree.”

“Well I’m embarrassed!”

“You’re also very cute when you’re embarrassed!”

“Cryp!”

**Author's Note:**

> I had no idea how to end this properly, so I cut it off there. Hope that isn’t too jarring.


End file.
